Fr. Fernando Vergez LC has been named the new secretary-general
of the office governing Vatican City. He was named to
the position by Pope Francis on Aug. 30, 2013.

Fr. Fernando
will continue in his position as director of the Vatican´s
telecommunications department, to which he was named by Pope John
Paul II in 2008.

According to the Catholic News Service, the
governing office “manages the business and financial affairs of the
108-acre (Vatican) state.”

Born in Salamanca, Spain on March 1, 1945,
Fr. Fernando was ordained to the Legion of Christ on
November 26, 1969. He began his service to the Holy
See at the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes on
August 1, 1972. In 1984 he was named to the
Pontifical Council for the Laity. From 1975, for 23 years,
he was personal secretary of Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio. In
June, 2004, he was appointed Head of Office of the
Internet Office of the Holy See of the Administration of
the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, before being appointed in
February, 2008, as Director of the Department of Telecommunications of
the “Governorate” of the Vatican City State.